The regional development policy of Romania in the post-accession period

The general objective of this study is to evaluate regional disparities and the territorial convergence under the impact of the cohesion policy, in the context of the European Union integration. The specific objectives on which the research included in this work focused are the following: specific objectives: (i) analysis and interpretation of main theories of regional science, evolution and influence factors, main representatives; (ii) analysis of regional disparities in Romania in different fields of activity; (iii) analysis of convergence at regional level within the European Union; (iv) assessing the impact of implementing regional policy in Romania; and (v) suggestions regarding a possible model of regional strategy for the future programming period, from the perspective of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The study contains certain quantitative and qualitative estimates on the economic effects generated by Structural Funds at regional level in Romania. The data and information presented in the research paper regarding the gross impact of allocated resources are verified by computing first an average level of obtained effects. By using currently existing qualitative and quantitative data and some analysis techniques of territorial convergence recognised at international level, the study presents the trends at regional and local level in certain fields of activity.